Raymond Flores watched Charlotte Saunders being interviewed from the comfort of the observation room, mildly curious as to why she felt the need to lie.
Once Anderson had showed no sign of returning to Leesburg, Saunders had been ‘invited’ to discuss the FBI’s various concerns. The murder of Enrique Garcia was overshadowed by events in the South China Sea, but the joint FBI-police hunt for his murderer was gathering pace. Having obtained Anderson’s fingerprints and DNA from the Jackson Inn, it hadn’t taken long to confirm his presence at Garcia’s house. The security system timed his arrival at the house just before Garcia’s estimated time of death, but forensic evidence contrarily only placed him downstairs. CCTV from adjacent properties had revealed nothing helpful, and certainly no indication as to how Anderson had arrived or whether anyone else might be involved.
Then there was the white van. It still wasn’t certain whether the vehicle was relevant or not; more witnesses had come forward, one giving a detailed description of a man seen climbing into the driver’s seat – he could have been Pat McDowell, but again it wasn’t definite, with the resultant artist’s impression nearer Flores than McDowell.
A hospital check had revealed two men shot in what was reportedly a robbery; one having lost most of his right ear, the other wounded in the thigh. They had been picked up four miles from Garcia’s house, and Flores’ interest had increased markedly once he discovered both men were ex-military, although neither was a close match to any of the Mississippi suspects.
Flores was minded to wonder whether Anderson was being set-up, but the Englishman’s subsequent actions were hardly helping his cause. Charlotte Saunders was doing her best to protect her boyfriend: she’d never heard of Enrique Garcia, didn’t know where Anderson was, hadn’t seen or spoken to McDowell for over a year…
Flores wanted to believe her; yet despite Charlotte Saunders’ denials, they had security camera footage of her meeting Anderson in Chantilly – not that she knew that. Each lie just made the truth more difficult to believe, and although she was a potential security risk Flores was prepared to keep her on a relatively loose leash in the hope she might lead them to Anderson. Her passport was still being held by the FBI and Flores was confident that she wouldn’t simply run off or try anything too extreme.
With resources tight, Flores put a team of just twelve onto Charlotte: he would give it two more days; after that, he’d work out whether to send her back home or threaten to charge her with something – accessory to murder could be pushing it, but it might just get her to open up.